I'm a Libertarian living in Humboldt County, CA. I've lived here in Eureka since 1973 and joined the Libertarian Party in 1992. This blog will mostly focus on local political issues, but I may stray into state and national issues as well, when I can't help myself. Please post your comments by clicking on the "comments" link at the bottom of each post. Although I do moderate comments, you need not be a registered user to post them.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Prop 83: A Year Later

The Santa Rosa Press- Democrat takes a look at Prop 83 this morning. Prop 83, known as Jessica's Law, was the ballot initiative that passed last year applying various restrictions to convicted sex offenders. The Press- Democrat, as did I, recommended voting against Prop 83, and they point out what they thought was a poor idea back then, was indeed a poor idea.

I'm curious as to whether those of you that voted for Prop 83 might have voted differently if you knew what you knew today?

Anyone who really molests a child, or who rapes someone of any age, should be kept behind bars forever. I have no problem with tougher penalties for these slimebags. As far as I'm concerned, the system is too lenient.

But 83 is a minefield. One of the major problems is that it applies to more people than it should. There are harmless young men who are now wearing GPS tracking devices because they slept with their girlfriends. It's entirely possible that some of these couples could get married someday and these guys will still be walking around wearing a GPS because they slept with a young woman that later became their wife.

If voters had known all of the problems with 83, it's proponents might have had to go back to the drawing board to fix some things. Unfortunately, the public was mislead and there was really no way to counteract it without looking bad.